- As Mayor Lovatt and the Town of Whitchurch Stouffville promised, a public consultation process meant to inform plans for a proposed memorial space within Memorial Park has been launched.
- The consultation takes the form of an online survey, which addresses three key areas:
- The potential removal of the Stouffville Horticultural Society’s 150th Canadian Anniversary commemorative garden
- The relocation of the Town’s cenotaph currently situated at the Stouffville Legion
- The Town’s contentious acceptance of a Leopard tank from the Canadian Department of National Defence
- A new location option at Park Drive and Hoover Park has been offered for consideration.
- Additionally, the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum has been proposed as a potential site for the tank if the Town accepts it.
- The survey, intended solely for area residents, is accessible here.
Survey participants are first asked to express their stance on the Stouffville Horticultural Society’s commemorative garden and whether it should remain at Park and Booth Drives. Options include keeping it in place while finding an alternate location for the memorial and potential Leopard tank or integrating the memorial and tank into the existing garden area. Another option is to support relocating the garden to accommodate the new memorial and tank, as approved by Council in December.
The subsequent section examines potential locations for the cenotaph, initially inquiring whether it should be relocated to Memorial Park or remain at the Legion. Residents are then asked to specify their preferred location within Memorial Park, including the two original options and the newly proposed site at Hoover Park and Park Drive. There is also an opportunity to write in a different location.
Finally, the survey addresses the possible acceptance of the Leopard tank. The first question in this section seeks participants’ views on receiving the tank for public display. Should respondents oppose the tank, the survey concludes.
However, if participants express support for accepting the tank, two additional questions follow seeking input on their preferred location. The final question queries whether participants believe the tank and cenotaph should be positioned together or separately. The Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum is then presented as an additional location option just for the tank.
The survey will be open until March 28. During a recent Town Hall meeting, Mayor Iain Lovatt expressed willingness to disclose complete survey data upon its completion, with results slated for inclusion in a forthcoming report for Council review.
